A bounty for the table  and spirit

Sharon Morgan

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, November 20, 2005

Thank you for reading my parenting columns on the Tribunes Religion Page for over the past year. The tone and perspective of each article has reflected my burden for ministry. So, now I would like to share with you my heart.

My husband, Ken, and I returned from Japan almost two years ago where we had spent five years as independent tent-making missionaries. The term tent-making means that we had to, like Paul in the New Testament, provide our own source of income. Unlike Paul who made tents, my husband, Ken, taught English in order that we could share our hearts and our love for Jesus Christ with our Japanese neighbors. Those five years were a real faith-building experience. We did not have a mission organization to help us make decisions or to help us find and receive medical care when I fractured my back and Ken needed an operation. We had to learn to wholly trust in our Heavenly Father and His provision.

Upon returning to America, we settled in the Thumb area to be near family members, raise our children in a wholesome environment and retire from missionary work  so to speak. That was not Gods complete plan, however. This past March, my husband felt the call to pastor a loving yet small congregation, Fairhaven Mennonite Church, south of Bay Port. In order for us to live up in the Thumb area and also pastor this small congregation, Ken has had to live and work in the Detroit area for the first half of every week in order to care for our needs. Although it hasnt been easy, it has been a tremendous learning experience for our family and a time to grow in compassion for those that have life circumstances that are painful or difficult.

A lot of time is needed to care for and pastor a congregation. It had been our hope and prayer for Ken to find a local source of income so that more time could be spent focusing on ministry. But, slowly, we came to realize that God was calling us, once again, to be tent-makers and supply our own source of income in order that our area of ministry could expand to include not only Fairhaven church but eventually the local community and the mission fields around the world.

Learning to cook has been my life-long hobby. Over the years, I have learned cooking techniques from Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, Canadian, Jamaican and American friends and have used what I have learned to adapt traditional American recipes and create healthier versions. I have also learned in my life that God can use painful circumstances to redirect our efforts or encourage us to go in a direction we might otherwise decline. Fueled by sorrow and the loneliness of being apart from Ken, I have spent almost the past two years intensely working to complete a combined cookbook and life testimony that has been seven years in the making. The cookbook is now in the hands of a publisher with a tentative release date of March 2006. We have just recently kicked off a fundraiser for the sale of the cookbook in order to raise funds for our local and international ministry. Profits made from the sale of this cookbook will promote support for Pastor Ken Morgan and his family, Fairhaven Mennonite Church, Bay Port and working capitol for two organizations: The Kinds Pantry  Bulk Food and General Store and New Song Discipleship International  Publisher.

The Kinds Pantry  Bulk Food and General Store provides an inexpensive source of healthy products with the dual purpose of teaching families to be good stewards of spiritual and physical health and relieving stress off of the family budget without the deception and temptation of New Age influence.

New Song Discipleship International  Publisher will publish biblically sound materials to promote, at home and in the mission fields around the world, the dual aspects of the Great Commission - evangelism (Matt. 28:19) and discipleship (Matt 28:20) that changed hearts obey God; follow after Christ; and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Sharon Morgan is an author and artist and lives in Sebewaing with her husband and children. From March 1998 to February 2004 she and her husband, Ken, were Christian missionaries in Japan. Ken is the pastor of Fairhaven Mennonite Church. Her next column will appear on the Nov. 30 Religion page.